Combination face and head protector



April 14, 1959 T. J. sowLE CQMBINATION FACE AND HEAD PROTECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 23. 1954 INVENTOR.

JSow/e April 14, 1959 T. J. sowLE COMBINATION FACE AND HEAD PROTECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 23, 1954 nvwvrm 60 J50 w/e 2,881,442 COMBINATION FACE AND HEAD PROTECTOR Theo J. Sowle, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application August 23,1954, Serial No. 451,497 4 Claims. (Cl. 2- 9) This invention relates to face and head protectors for athletes and, in particular, to combination face and head protectors.

One object of this invention is toiprovide a combination face and head protector wherein blows received upon the face guard are transmitted back to and distributed by the helmet or head gear through a forcetransmitting connection 'therebetween, rather than being transmitted locally to the portion of the face adjacent the point of impact of the blow.

Another object is to provide a combination face and head protector of the foregoing character wherein the face guard is spaced away from the face so that it does not immediately engage the face or permit dirt and other foreign matter to enter and form an irritant between the face guard and face.

Another object is to provide a combination face and head protector wherein the face guard is connected to the head gear at a high point near or above the eye level so as to provide a high fulcrum on which the face guard pivots and swings upward for easy removal of the protector.

Another object is to provide .a combination face and head protector as set forth in the object immediately preceding, wherein the fulcrum and force-transmitting connection has detachable and removable interengagernent, thereby enabling quick and complete removal of the face guard upon disconnection of the chin strap, when it is not desired to wear the face guard.

Another object is to provide a combination face and head protector of the character set forth in the two objects immediately preceding, wherein the chin strap has a line of pull disposed in front of the line between the point of articulation of the jaw bone and the point of the chin, so as to prevent the wearer from opening his mouth more than slightly, and thereby preventing injury to the teeth, tongue and lips resulting fromblo'ws received with the mouth open yetpermitting suflicient opening of the mouth for necessary conversation or transmitting of orders or signals.

Another object is to provide a combination face and head protector of the foregoing character wherein the face guard is made of thin flexible resilient material and is spaced at a relatively wide separation-fromthe face so as to permit wide deflection thereof without hitting the face and also to permit flow of air between the face and face guard for ventilation and dissipation of perspiration.

Another object is to provide a combination face and head protector as set forth in the foregoing objects,

wherein the face guard is pivoted to the helmet at exceedingly high fulcrum points, ator above the eye level, thereby enabling the use of a cup-shaped chin protecting portion on the face guard by enabling it to swing outward before moving upward, to clear the chin.

Another object is to provide a face guard having pronited States Patent() tection for the nose, teeth and chin with'spacing there- H between so as to facilitate breathing, expect'o'ration', 'talk- 2,881,442 Patented Apr. 14, 1959 "ice face from injury.

Another object is to provide a face guard, as set forth in the object immediately preceding, wherein the face guard is of such contour and spacing away from the face as to permit vision downward through that space in'order to enable the athlete to have substantially unobstructed vision downward so as to. permit him to sight downward or, if bent over, to sight backward between his legs, as in the case of a football center snapping the ball backward to the back or other player behind him.

Another object is to provide a face guard of the foregoing character-having provision, as 'by open or closed slots therein, for receiving a chin strap of the plain or non-military type which does not pass around both in front of and beneath the chin.

Another object is to provide a face guard of the foregoing character having provision, as by closed slots therein, for receiving a strap on each side thereof, thereby providing a unitary face guard and chin strap.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description ofthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a combination face and head protector, as worn according to one form of the invention;

' Figure 2 is a side elevation of the combination face and head protector shown in Figure 1, as worn;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary substantially horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 2, showing the detachable pivotal connection or articulation between the face guard and head gear;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a combination face and head protector with a slightly modified articulation or pivotal connection between the face guard and head gear;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a combination face and head protector with a further modified articulation between the face guard and head gear;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modification of the combination face and head protector of Figure 2, wherein the face guard has a cup-shaped chin protecting portion, and swings on a high fulcrum, with slots for receiving a chin strap;

Figure 7 is a further modification of Figure 6 wherein open-ended slots are provided for receiving the chin strap; and

Figure 8 is a still further modification of Figure 6, wherein the face guard and separate chin straps on opposite sides thereof form a unitary face guard and chin strap.

Hitherto, persons engaged in sports such as football, automobile racing and the like have sustained serious injuries to the nose, teeth, lips, jaw, cheek bones, eyes and other portions of the face and head because of the lack of sufiicient protection to these parts. Certain prior face guards have snugly fitted the face in such a manner that a blow delivered thereon was localized in the vicinity of the point of impact. Such close fitting face guards, moreover, in order to give even superficial protection were necessarily of thick and heavy construction in order to be rigid enough to provide such superficial protection. Moreover, dirt entering between such a.close fitting mask and the face created irritation and annoyance to the wearer, diverting his attention from the sport in which he was engaged. Such closely fitting face guards also prevented flow of air between the face and the face guard for ventilation and dissipation of perspiration. Furthermore these prior face guards gave inadequate protection for the nose and teeth and at the same time obstructed vision downward so as to prevent a football player, for example, from sighting backward between his legs when snapping the ball backward to a player bethe eye level so as to provide a high fulcrum for swinging the face guard upward to afford easy removal thereof. The present face guard, moreover, because of its relatively wide separation from the face permits wide deflection thereof before it hits the face and also permits air flow through this space for ventilation and dissipation of perspiration. The present face guard, moreover, by reasonof its positive connection to the head gear transmits the force of such a blow backward from the point of impact to the head gear and dissipates the force of the blow rather than concentrating it near the point of impact of the blow. The high fulcrum point of the face guard of the present invention to the head gear, and the use of a chin strap pulling along a line of pull disposed in front of the line between the point of articulation of the jawbone and the point of the chin holds the mouth of the wearer firmly closed while permitting suflicient power of speech to transmit orders or signals, thereby preventing injury to the teeth, lips or tongue from blows received against the mouth when partly or fully open.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figures 1 to 3 inclusive show a combination face and head protector, generally designated 10, according to one form of the present invention, as consisting generally of a face guard 12 and a chin strap 14 connecting the face guard 12 to a head gear 16. The head gear 16 is in the form of a helmet shell 18 of plastic or other suitable material having an upper skull protecting portion 20 and lower ear protecting portion 22 extending downwardly therefrom with ear protecting portions or members 24 located adjacent the locations occupied by the ears of the wearers head.

The head gear 16 is mounted on the head of the wearer by a harness, generally designated 26, which in turn consists of a circumferential band or strap 28 extending around the head and crossing mutually perpendicular overhead bands or straps 30 and 32 respectively. The harness 26 is spaced away from the helmet 20 and secured thereto as by the fasteners 34 in a conventional way, the details of which are beyond the scope of the present invention. The chin strap 14 is of the so-called military type having upper and lower chin engaging portions 36 and 38 secured as by stitching to the front and bottom of an approximately cup-shaped chin rest 39 of leather or other suitable material which rests against the lower front portion of the face guard 12. The chin strap portions 36 and 38 meet at a common junction 40 and form a Y-shaped connection with their connection straps 42. The upper ends of the connection straps 42 are passed through buckles 44 which in turn are secured as by the fasteners 46. The fasteners 46 pass through protecting pads 48 and the helmet portions 22 to which these are secured as at 50. The buckles 44 are preferably so mounted on the helmet 20 that the line of pull from the chin through the connecting strap portions 42 to the buckles 44 lies forward of a line from the chin to the point of articulation or pivoting of the jaw bone upon the skull of the wearer. As stated above, this serves to hold the mouth of the wearer firmly closed while permitting him to move his lips sufliciently to talk to his teammates.

The helmet 20 is provided with a pair of plates or socket members 52 secured on opposite sides thereof near the forward edge 54 of the helmet side portions 22. Each socket member 52 contains a fulcrum socket 56 which is open at the front and shaped somewhat like the handle of a teacup or the outline of the human ear, having an arcuate bearing surface or recess 58 in its upper portion extending above the front slot or opening 60. Fitting into the socket 56 and shaped arcuately to pivot in the recess 58 thereof is the convex arcuate bearing surface or fulcrum portion 62 disposed at the upper end of each of a pair of supporting arms 64 which extend upward from and are integral with the frontal portion, generally designated 66, of the face guard 12. The frontal portion 66 interconnects the arms 64 and extends in front of the face to protect the various portions of the face.

The frontal portion 66 of the face guard 12 has three separate subportions or components, namely a nose protecting portion 68, at the top, a teeth protecting portion 70 in the middle, and a chin-protecting portion 72 at the bottom, these three portions 68, 70 and 72 being separated from one another by elongated openings 74 and 76 through which the user may breathe and talk respectively. The portions 68, 70 and 72 thus act as bridge portions extending between the arms 64 at different levels thereof. The nose protecting portion 68 is arched upward (Figure 1) to cover the nose, leaving downwardly-extending cutout portions 78 on opposite sides of the'portion 68 for facilitating downward vision. The chin protecting portion 72, which extends downwardly from the lower part of the frontal portion 66 at the lower ends of the arms 64 and is engaged by the chin rest 39 of the chin strap 14, is cupped slightly to conform to the shape of the front of the chin, and is provided with a pad 80 of rubber or other suitable resilient material secured to the inner surface thereof as by the use of an adhesive and serving as a point of support against the front of the chin or jawbone. The remainder of the frontal portion 66 with its nose and teeth protecting portions 68 and 70 is spaced away from the adjacent portions of theface, so that the face guard 12 when subjected to a blow can yield considerably before touching any portion of the face. Since the face guard 12 is of flexible transparent plastic or other resilient material, it has an elastic resisting efiect tending to absorb the force of a blow, as stated below in connection with the operation of the invention.

The modification shown in Figure 4 provides a face guard, generally designated 82, similar in most respects to the face guard 12 except that the fulcrum portions 62, instead of being inserted in the socket 56, are pivoted directly to reinforcing plates 84 secured to the depending helmet portions or side portions 22 by means of pivot members 86, such as rivets. The reinforcing plates 84 are of similar shape to the socket members 52 and are similarly secured to the helmet 20 or molded integrally therewith.

The modification shown in Figure 5 employs a face guard, generally designated 92, similar to the face guards 12 and 82 except that a different means is provided for securing the face guard 92 to the helmet 20. In Figure 5, the fulcrum portions 62 are drilled with spaced multiple holes 94 which are aligned with one or more pairs of holes (not shown) in the supporting and reinforcing plate 96. The latter is similar to the supporting and reinforcing plate 84 and is similarly formed on the helmet 20. A lace 98 of leather, rawhide or other suitable material is inserted through the holes 94 and provides an adjustable means for varying the position of the frontal portion 66 of the face guard 92 outwardly from or inwardly toward the helmet 20, in order to adapt the face guard 92 to individuals of difierent head and facial dimensions.

The further modified combination face and head protector, generally designated 100, shown in Figure 6 has a head gear, generally designated 102, similar to the head gear 16 of Figures 1 and 4, except that the reinforcing plates 84 are placed slightly higher up on the helmet shell 18 so that the fulcrum or pivot members 86 are located at or above the eye level of the wearer. The arms 64 of the face guard 10 are slightly lengthened may be bent perpendicularly thereto .to

to enable the use of these high fulcrum-points 86,. and .the latter in turn permit the use of a cup-shaped chinprotecting portion 106 which extends underneath the chin as well as in front of it, and is provided with a pad 108 of rubber or other resilient material similar to the pad 80 but extending further under the chin. The cup-shaped chin protector 106 is optionally slotted as at 110 to receive a chin strap 112 of anon-military type, or the military-type chin strap 14 may be used if desired. If the non-military type chin strap 112 is used it may have its central portion extendingaround the front of the chin-protecting portion 106, .as .shown 'in Figure 6 or it pass underneath the chin. The high fulcrum location 'of the pivot members 86 enables the cup-shaped chin-protecting portion 106 toswing on a long radius so as tocause the bottom of the chin-protecting portion.1.06 to clear the chin with- .out interference therewith.

The further modified .face sguard .114, shown in .Figure 7, is identical .in .all respects to the face guard ,104 of Figure 6, except that an open-ended chin strap slot 116 with an entrance 118 is provided on each side of the chin protecting portion 106 instead of the closed slots 110 of Figure 6. This construction enables the strap 112 to be easily inserted and removed or detached from the face guard 114 without requiring it to be unthreaded from the closed slots 110 of Figure 6.

The operation of the invention is chiefly the same in all forms thereof, differing only in the pivotal connection by which the face guard 12, 82 or 92 is attached to the helmet 20, the construction and connection of the chin strap to the face guard, and the shape of the chin protecting portion of the face guard. The face guard 12 (Figures 1 and 2) is applied after the head gear 16 has been placed on the head, by inserting the fulcrum portion 62 of the arms 64 through the entrances 60 of the sockets 56 and pushing upward until the fulcrum portion 62 is firmly seated in the correspondingly-shaped recess 58. The chin strap 14 is then tightened, with its upper and lower portions 36 and 38 engaging the chin rest 39 which in turn engages the chin by means of the resilient pad 80. It is quickly and easily detached by reversing the procedure just described.

The face guard 82 of Figure 4 and the similar face guards 104 and 114 of Figures 6 and 7, being permanently connected by the pivot pins 86 to the helmet shell 18, involve no detachment procedure, but swing forward and upward out of the way when their respective chin straps 14 or 112 are disconnected from their respective buckles 44. In the high fulcrum face guard 104, the radius of swing is so long that the bottom of the cupshaped chin protecting portion thereof swings clear of the chin without interfering therewith, thus giving more complete protection to .the wearers chin and at the same time enabling the face and head protector to be easily and rapidly removed. The face guard 92 of Figure 5, on the other hand, being laced to the reinforcement plates 96, enables the face guard 92 to be set higher or lower relatively to the head gear 16, thereby adjusting the face guard 92 to the different sizes of face and head. The different possible arrangements and advantages of the military chin strap 14 of Figures 1, 4 and 5 versus the non-military or single chin strap 112 of Figures 6 and 7 has already been described in connection with the description of the respective figures.

In any case, as stated above, the present face guard, whatever its form as shown in the accompanying drawings, by being made of flexible resilient material and spaced away from the face permits circulation of cooling air to carry away heat and evaporate perspiration, prevents dirt from collecting and forming an irritant between the face guard and the skin of the face, as in prior face guards which directly contact the face at close range, and absorbs the impact of a blow and transfers it to the head gear before it deflects sufliciently guards.

that separate chin straps affected by this 'difference -to touch the face. It thus *"cloes'notlocalize'the impact of-the blow upon the face, as in prior close fitting face Moreover, the spaced, separate bridge portions 68, 70 and 72 protect-the nose, teeth and chin for the same-reason, while permitting the maximum vision downward or rearward, if the wearer is bending forward.

The still further modifiedface guard, generally designated 124, shown in "Figure 8, is also identical in all respects to the face guard 104 shown in Figure 6, except 126 are provided on opposite sides of the face guard chin protecting portion 106, and attached as by the riveted'or otherwise secured loops 128 -to the closed slots therein. In this manner, the face 104 and its chin straps '126'become asingle unit. use of the face guard 126, except as of construction, is otherwise face guard 104 of Figure 6 guard The operation 3 and the same as that :of the described above.

What I claim is;

v1. Aicombinationface and head protectorcomprising a helmet having a top portion adapted to cover substantially the entire upper part of the wearers head and having sides adapted to extend downwardly on opposite sides of the wearers head, a face guard having a frontal part of flexible resilient material and laterally-spaced arms extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a force-transmitting pivot device connecting the upper end of each arm to the adjacent side of said helmet, and means disposed below said pivot devices for separately securing said face guard to said sides of said helmet, said frontal part having a lower chin-protecting portion engaging the front of the wearers chin and elsewhere being spaced widely away from the adjacent facial portions of the wearer, each of said force-transmitting pivot devices including pivot members with arcuate concave bearing surfaces mounted on said helmet sides forming sockets and socket-engaging portions with arcuate convex bearing surfaces disposed on the ends of said arms in rocking engagement with said arcuate concave bearing surfaces.

2. A combination face and head protector comprising a helmet having a top portion adapted to cover substantially the entire upper part of the wearers head and having sides adapted to extend downwardly on opposite sides of the wearers head, a face guard having a frontal part of flexible resilient material and laterally-spaced arms extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a force-transmitting pivot device connecting the upper end of each arm to the adjacent side of said helmet, and means disposed below said pivot devices for separately securing said face guard to said sides of said hehnet, said frontal part having a lower chin-protecting portion engaging the front of the wearers chin and elsewhere being spaced Widely away from the adjacent facial portions of the wearer, said force-transmitting pivot devices including sockets with arcuate bottoms mounted on said helmet sides and arcuate socket-engaging portions disposed on the ends of said arms in rocking engagement with said arcuate bottoms.

3. A combination face and head protector comprising a helmet having a top portion adapted to cover substantially the entire upper part of the wearers head and having sides adapted to extend downwardly on opposite sides of the wearers head, a face guard having a frontal part of flexible resilient material and laterally-spaced arms extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a force-transmitting pivot device connecting the upper end of each arm to the adjacent side of said helmet, and means disposed below said pivot devices for separately securing said face guard to said sides of said helmet, said frontal part having a lower chin-protecting portion engaging the front of the wearers chin and elsewhere being spaced widely away from the adjacent facial portions of the wearer, each of said force-transmitting pivot devices including pivot members with arcuate concave bearing surfaces mounted on said helmet sides forming sockets and hook-shaped socket-engaging portions with arcuate convex bearing surfaces disposed on the ends of said arms in rocking engagement with said arcuate concave bearing surfaces.

4. A combination face and head protector comprising a helmet having a top portion adapted to cover substantially the entire upper part of the wearers head and having sides adapted to extend downwardly on opposite sides of the wearers head, a face guard having a frontal part of flexible resilient material and laterally-spaced arms extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a force-transmitting pivot device connecting the upper end of each arm to the adjacent side of said helmet, and means disposed below said pivot devices for separately securing said face guard to said sides of said helmet, said frontal part having a lower chin-protecting portion engaging the front of the wearers chin and elsewhere being spaced widely away from the adjacent facial por- -tions of the wearer, each of said vforce-transmitting pivot devices includingpivot members with arcuate concave bearing surfaces mounted on said helmet sides forming sockets and socket-engaging portions with arcuate convex bearing surfaces'disposed on the ends of said arms in rocking engagement with said arcuate concave bearing surfaces and detachably engaging said sockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 542,389 Lind July 9, 189.5 1,272,309 Paupa July 9, 1918 1,505,978 Stetson Aug. 26, 1924 1,996,078 Manson Apr. 2, 1935 2,250,275 Riddell July 22, 1941 2,351,752 Fay June 20, 1944 2,525,389 'Zel1er- Oct. 10, 1950 2,611,897 Adams Sept. 30, 1952 2,616,081 Weaver et a1. Nov. 4, 1952 2,790,175 Sowle Apr. 30, 1957 

